Do you long to truly experience the presence of God? Maybe you read the Bible hoping to deepen your relationship with Him—but end up gaining head knowledge while your heart still feels distant. Chris Brooks and Pastor Dave Ripper will share how Scripture can become more than words on a page—it can become a place to meet with God in real and life-giving ways. Bring your questions and discover how to encounter our Heavenly Father through His Word with a fresh sense of wonder and connection!
Today's Resource: Experiencing Scripture as a Disciple of Jesus
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Well. Hey there friends, welcome to another exciting edition of equip with Chris Brooks! I am so thrilled that you've joined us today. Can you do me a favor? Strap on your seatbelt. We're going to navigate through the contours of culture, as always, with the lens of the biblical worldview on. But before we do that, let me remind you, this is the day that the Lord has made. He has given it as a gift so that you and I can rejoice and be glad in it. So let's do just that. Let's follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Well, I think all of us as Christians know that we should read the Bible. But as Scripture reading become more of a duty, maybe a long list of check the boxes for you, but not life giving. Maybe you have lost the joy of scripture reading and failed to see it as truly an invitation for an encounter with Jesus and invitation to be immersed into the life giving relationship that Christ offers us. That brings transformation through the indwelling of the spirit into our lives. Well, today I hope to bring renewal to your passion for encountering the living Christ through His Word. And I want to do so by introducing you to a phenomenal resource. It's simply entitled Experiencing Scripture as a Disciple of Jesus. The author of this volume is Dave Ripper. Dave joins me today. He is the lead pastor of Crossway Christian Church. It's a multi Congregational church in southern New Hampshire focused on spiritual formation. Dave earned his doctorate of ministry in Spiritual direction from Fuller Theological Seminary. Uh, And he is the passionate husband of Aaron and the father of three, just south of perfect Children. Uh, they're, uh, in New Hampshire and in New England area. Dave. How are you, brother?
Hey, Chris. I'm doing so well. Thanks for the kind introduction. And thanks for having me on your show here today. Honored to be with you.
Yeah. Talk a little bit about your ministry for folks who maybe are new to you and Crossway Church, talk a little bit about your ministry.
Yeah. Crossway Christian Church is located in Nashua, New Hampshire. We have three sites that kind of straddle the New Hampshire Massachusetts border. So we're about 45 minutes north of Boston. And, uh, it's a it's a great community. Uh, definitely, uh, you know, a lot of diversity, but a real focus on discipleship. And I think a big line that we're going to talk about from Dallas Willard that really animates the life of our church is he said, what would it be like if instead of trying to get as many people into heaven after they die, we tried to get heaven into people here and now, and the result would be far more people actually going to heaven to spend eternity with Jesus. And so we've tried to really make spiritual formation, this heartbeat of our church, which is just a big phrase that means the process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others. And I think arranging our church for that kind of growth to take place has been really attractional for a lot of people that are coming. So it's been a real joy just to see God at work in an area where not a lot of people go to church. I think Massachusetts and New Hampshire are the two states with the lowest church attendance. And so, yeah, God's doing something unique right here. We feel really thrilled to be a part of it. We're adding on to the main campus to make more room for more people. So it's a fun season that we're in.
Man, that's that's tremendously encouraging for those of us who are hopeful, prayerful that the gospel would really spread and that there would be a move of the spirit in places of this country that are unchurched or unchurched, if you will. You certainly are not in Southern Baptist country, if you will. So I'm grateful that you're there, and I'm grateful to hear the impact of the ministry. For those of you who want to find out more about Dave's ministry, go to our website, equip Radio.com. I want to talk about the book Experiencing Scripture as a Disciple of Jesus. It jumped out to me. Sometimes the title just really captures your heart and your attention. And certainly that was the case with your volume here. So talk a little bit about why you wrote this book, why you felt like it was needed for right now.
Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. The subtitle of the book is Reading the Bible Like Dallas Willard. Yeah. And for those who don't know about Dallas, he taught philosophy at the University of Southern California for about 47 years and wrote some incredible books on the Christian life, like The Spirit of the disciplines, uh, renovation of the heart, The Divine Conspiracy, and when, 15 years ago, when I was finishing my seminary degree at Denver Seminary, Dallas came as a guest teacher, and we got to spend a week with him, uh, at a retreat center just outside of Colorado Springs, uh, right in the shadow of Pikes Peak, which just made it such a fitting place for me, uh, to really discover who outside of Jesus would be the most towering spiritual figure in my life. And I had read Dallas before, and I admired him. I wasn't sure if I believed he was right about, uh, most of what he said still. But meeting the man, I quickly realized this is the most brilliant person I have ever been around and the most Christ like person I have ever been around, and the way he lived seemed to confirm that the message about which he wrote was true. And that was so alluring to me that I have just devoted so much of my life to trying to put into practice what Dallas said. He died a little over 12 years ago, and I think has left a huge vision for what the church could and should be. He would say the local church should be a center for authentic Christian spiritual formation. Yeah. And, uh, so.
Let me let me jump.
In so much. Yeah.
Let me jump in right there because I think context matters, right? And so you and I could talk for days and days about the things Dallas said that were so brilliant. The man he was, which really, you describe it as the most Christ like person you've known. I would use the word authentic. You just use that, uh, this consistency that so often is missing between the gospel he preached, uh, the Jesus he preached and loved and the way he lived his life. It's certainly something that I'm hoping to to not only experience, but to model. Uh, for those that I get a chance to do life with. Uh, but I think context matters. And I think it's important to know the world in which Dallas Willard's voice emerges was really at the birthing and the apex of the church growth movement. That's right. So kind of contrasts the way that the church during Dallas kind of heyday, if you will, was being told to measure success versus the way Dallas really talked about how churches and Christians should measure success. What's the difference there?
Yeah. Dallas would sometimes talk about the ABCs of church growth that we often measure things through attendance, buildings and cash rather than discipleship. And he points right back to the New Testament. The word disciple is used 269 times in the New Testament, and the word Christian is only used three times. So Dallas really responded, I think, to the moment where churches, to attract as many people as possible, almost kind of reduced the message to the very, very basic tenets, uh, which just called people to certainly make a proclamation of faith, which we, we need, but kind of lowered the the entry requirements to a bare minimum and missed out. I think how discipleship really is, uh, integral, not incidental to the good news of Jesus. And so he's really calling people back at the crux of all that Dallas is writing is to be an apprentice or disciple of Jesus. Don't just aspire to know what Jesus knows, but learn to be with him so that you can become more and more like Jesus. In order to live your life the way Jesus would do it if he was you.
You know what's really interesting? I think about it in these terms. Uh, on the church side of things, uh, Dallas came into a world or really was speaking to, uh, a generation of believers that were taught, uh, Christian leaders that were taught to measure success purely quantitatively. Right. Just numbers, numbers, numbers. And he says, no, we need to measure it qualitatively. What type of disciples are we producing? And if you were to think about it, just kind of in business terms, that every company is going to be known for the quality of product it produces, right? So like for Dell, it'll be computers. What quality of computers for Harley Davidson, what quality of motorcycles? I live in Detroit. So like Ford Motor Company what quality of cars. Well for the church. What quality of disciples are we producing? Not just you would never celebrate a company just because it said we produced a whole lot of really terrible products, right? We would want to be able to say, no, these what we're producing actually has quality and depth and and and goodness and truth and beauty all reflected in and throughout the product. And so if the church thought in those terms, what quality of disciple. But I think on an individual basis, just me as a Christian, I think Dallas spoke to my heart about shifting from seeing the Christian life from duty to desire. You know, I really think, Dave, that part of the mistake of the way that pastors like myself have often taught about the spiritual disciplines. And if you're new to the Christian faith, Maybe you don't know that term spiritual disciplines, but it's just kind of like the behaviors that Christians should have that help to produce growth. Things like prayer or scripture reading, which we're talking about today, or even evangelism or quiet times, right? We've often talked about those things as duties, where Dallas was a voice that talked about it as desire, that these are invitational, um, uh, activities that are a part of rhythms, that are a part of our lives that really allow us to experience this immersive relationship with Jesus. I bring that up just to say that, brother, when I read your book, that is what I experience. That's what my heart experiences, and I'm really grateful for that.
I'm thrilled to hear that. Yeah, so much of what you shared here, Chris reminds me of, you know, a lot of the questions Dallas would ask, he would say is the, uh, especially to pastors, uh, is the gospel that you're preaching having the natural result of leading people to become disciples of Jesus? Or is the gospel you're preaching making consumers of religious goods and services?
Um.
Are you making disciples or consumers of religious goods and services? So Dallas is definitely trying to combat that sort of consumeristic mentality about what the church can offer us. And as instead, as you said, so well, he is offering an invitation to us to experience kind of an eternal kind of life with Jesus here and now, and we access that kind of eternal life with Jesus, primarily through the different spiritual disciplines, disciplines of engagement like study and worship and prayer, disciplines of abstinence like solitude and silence. And I discovered a lot of this. And really, what was a big genesis for the book was seeing how over my life, I have written down so many of Dallas's powerful commentary to different passages of Scripture. But because Dallas wasn't a New Testament scholar, he he knew the Bible really, really well. But he he never really gives you the steps to how he arrived at what he did. And probably the passage of Scripture he cites the most in his books and in his teachings is John 17 three, where Jesus prays, uh, Lord, that this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. And Dallas says, the word for know in the Bible is always a word that signifies interactive, experiential knowledge, not just knowledge by a proposition. Not just like practical know how, but knowledge by acquaintance, where we can really know the author of the book. And I love it. As I discovered that, I realized, I think, the key spiritual practice of Dallas life that helped him have the ad, but the life with God that he had really was the unique way in which he read the Bible. And that's what I'm trying to communicate in this book. When we open the pages of Scripture, the author is in the room.
All right, here's what I want to do. If you're listening to me today and you say, Chris, I need a revival in my relationship with Scripture, um, maybe you have been following Christ, and maybe you would describe your relationship with scripture reading as being dry, or it's lost its vibrancy. If you want to experience a renewal, we're going to talk about that today. But I would also love to pray with you. Maybe you say, Pastor Chris, hey, I need someone to pray with me today, just that I would have a desire to read the Bible. You give me a call 877548 675. Let us be your prayer partner today. 8775675. Don't go anywhere. Much more to come. Next up on equipped with Chris Brooks. Are you worn out by life's challenges? Do you struggle to see God's goodness in your suffering? Still Standing By Lina Abujamra is a powerful resource that will renew your hope and encourage you through the hardest seasons and discover rewards you never dreamed of. Request your copy of Still Standing. When you donate to equip, call 888644 4144 or visit Equip Radio Org. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks. Today we're talking about reviving your scripture reading and helping you to really rediscover the joy of experiencing Scripture as a disciple of Jesus. I'd love to pray with you. So our guest today, Dave Ripper, author of the book Experiencing Scripture as a Disciple of Jesus. The phone number is (877) 548-3675. Uh, feel free to call anonymously if you want more privacy, but I think all of us, Dave, have have our own stories of our journey with Scripture. And for far too many believers I know, um, there isn't that desire that's there and maybe that's missing for some. Again, they can remember more vibrant seasons, and they look at their lives now and say, man, I haven't experienced the living. Christ, uh, heard his voice through Scripture, felt his leading and guidance. Or maybe you're new to Christ and you say, man, I just want to, uh, to steal another title of a book. I want to read the Bible for all it's worth, I really want to get out of it all that Christ intended for me to get out of it. Um, again, allow us to be your your prayer partner today. 877548 3675. You can also get your copy of Dave's book, a wonderful resource for every believer. I think it can be extremely beneficial. Go to our website radio.org. That's equipped radio. Uh, Dave, I want to talk to you about a couple of principles that you mentioned in the book. What is the Emmanuel Principle?
Yeah, the Emmanuel Principle is, uh, the idea that a lot of theologians over the years have wondered, what is the what holds the whole Bible together? Is there an integrative motif? And so you had folks like Martin Luther that said, what holds the Bible all together is the idea of justification by faith. Or Calvin would say, the glory of God. Others more recently might say the kingdom of God and Dallas would answer that question by saying the With God, life is what the Bible from start to finish, is all about. And so that's what that Emmanuel Principle, that name for Jesus, is that God really is with us. He is with us through the pages of the text. He's been with us all throughout history. He is with us right now. And so, uh, when we read, uh, we're not reading a book that God is detached from, uh, Dallas would say the Bible is infallible. It's trustworthy because God never leaves it alone. And so, speaking of that desire, which I think you've described so well, when we sit down to read Scripture, we have an invitation to be able to encounter God's presence in an ever deepening way. It's not just understanding words in a page like we might understand and be reading a textbook. It is an is almost like a portal to the spiritual realm where we can meet Jesus and Dallas. He would say he tried to live at the cross section of two landscapes, the visible world and the invisible world, the physical world and the spiritual world. And I think the Bible, uniquely, is a gift that God has given us to be able to live that type of unseen life here and now with him.
That's so good. We're going to go to the phone lines eight, seven, seven live six, seven, five is the number today. If you want to get your copy of Experiencing Scripture as a disciple of Jesus, go to our website, equip Radio.com. Let's go to Spencer who's listening in Holland, Michigan. Hey Spencer, thank you so much for calling today. How can we pray for you?
Well, I heard you talking about like, um, living with God by reading his scripture and, uh, more of a desire for reading his scripture. And that's basically what I'm wanting to wanting for myself.
Yeah, I think that's awesome, brother, and I'm so glad you called in. Just the very fact that you have a desire for your hunger for Scripture to increase. It's just signs of his grace at work in your life and the presence of the spirit, uh, in your heart. Um, before I pray, Dave, anything you want to say to Spencer?
Yeah. Thanks for your call, Spencer. And expressing that longing. And that's actually a thing that Dallas would say when we read the Bible. We should express longings like these. And I think God honors that. Dallas would say, when you come to your chosen passage of Scripture, you should do so as if you are going to have a holy encounter with God. And Dallas would suggest you pray a prayer like this as you begin to read His word. Beyond the sacred page, O Lord, I seek you.
It's so important to know the guy behind the truth of Scripture. Let's pray together. Lord, I thank you for Spencer. I thank you for how you're drawing him to yourself. Thank you that you loved him so much that you gave your only son, Jesus, so that any of us who would believe upon Christ should not perish but have everlasting life. May that abundant life dwell in him richly. And may he be immersed in the abundant life of Christ. Lord, I pray that you would increase his hunger and father even direct him as he reads the word. Let every verse that he reads, Lord, just fill his heart with joy, wisdom, and knowledge of you in Jesus name. Amen. Spencer, why don't you stay on the line? One of the ways we want to encourage you today is to get you a complimentary copy of Dave Ripper's book, Experiencing Scripture as a Disciple of Jesus. This is our way of just saying we. We appreciate you, brother, and we want to wrap our arms around you as you take your next step in your journey with Jesus. I love hearing in particular men and I know this is Father's Day week. I love hearing men, Dave, say that they want to encounter Jesus through scripture. Oh, that more men, husbands, fathers would read the Word of God. Let's go to the phone lines again. Uh, Ruth is listening in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ruth, thank you so much for calling today. How can we pray for you?
Well, you know what? I could be Spencer Jr. Absolutely. I started out the year reading through the Bible and somehow I failed.
Yeah, well, the very fact that you are calling here today tells me that failure should not be the way you describe it. I think we all know what it's like for the busyness of life to. To happen. I think we all know what it's like for maybe discouragement to settle in or distractions. But the fact that your heart is hungry for Jesus. It's such a blessing to me. Uh, Dave, before we pray, what would you say to our dear sister Ruth?
Yeah. Thanks for calling in, Ruth. And I would echo what Pastor Chris shared not to get too discouraged. And sometimes, uh, Dallas Willard actually wrote that we should maybe not even try to read through the whole Bible in a given year, rather than having every verse of Scripture flash before our eyes. What if we allowed some of the key passages to just really soak deeply into our lives, like Psalm 23 or the sermon on the Mount, or Colossians three, or a lot of what Jesus says in John 15, which is the last place I think Dallas left off in his Bible. It was bookmarked when I got to look at his Bible a couple of years ago at John 15. And so I don't think you need to be beating yourself up hard for that, because your desire is is clearly to please God and to be with him. And so maybe take the pressure off yourself to feel of feeling like you need to go through all 66 books. What if there were a handful of verses that really deepened in your life, like the fruit of the spirit? Or, you know, Jesus invitation to remain and abide with him?
I want to encourage you. Uh, Ruth and Spencer, really, all those who are listening, if you have not yet identified man, where do I want to start my reading? I want to recommend one of the passages that Dave just recommended, and that is the sermon on the Mount. You can find, uh, Jesus's teaching, most famous teaching, really, the sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel, chapters five through seven. So maybe just start there, read Matthew's gospel, uh, chapters five through seven, and allow each word to dwell in you richly. Father, thank you for Ruth. Thank you for fresh starts, new beginnings. In your grace. May she experience it in abundance. In Jesus name, Amen and amen. Today's the day of renewal. God wants to refresh your heart concerning his love and his grace for you. So why don't you do me a favor? Go to our website at Radio.com. Well, what is the immerse method of scripture reading? We're going to talk about that with Dave Ripper on the other side of this break. Also, who is Saint Ignatius? Uh, he is someone from church history that I think you should know. And we're going to introduce you to him if you want to get your copy of Experiencing Scripture as a disciple of Jesus reading the Bible like Dallas Willard, go to our website, equip radio Dot o. Hey there friends. Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks. Today we're talking about falling in love with Scripture again and getting out of, uh, your scripture reading all that God intended by way of relationship with him, experiencing Scripture as a disciple of Jesus, reading the Bible like Dallas Willard. How do we do that? Uh, today we're talking about that and praying with you. If you'd like to get a copy of the resource that we are featuring today, go to our website, equip Radio.com. Find out more about Dave Ripper, the author, as well as the resource experiencing Scripture as a disciple of Jesus. We're also taking your calls. What a joy it is to be your prayer partner. 877548 3675. That's 8775675. Dave, I am a huge fan of church history. I love church history. I wish everyone took at least one course just to be able to learn about the turning point periods of church history, the moments where we didn't live up to the call of Christ, the name of Christ as the body of believers, but also those figures who are great role models for us. So let's just talk about one of them, Saint Ignatius, who is Saint Ignatius? And what can we learn?
Yeah, Saint Ignatius, while kind of Luther and Calvin are having the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland, there's a renewal of the church in Spain. And he was a very ego driven guy, young in age, and he wanted to become a valiant knight. And one of the ways to do that in that culture was to win, uh, the damsel in distresses affections and to perform some heroic battle. And so he tries doing this, and during this battle, he gets hit with a cannonball and his legs get shattered. And now he is, uh, really stuck for a period of healing. And while he's, uh, stuck in this Loyola manor home, there's only a couple of books for him to be able to have access to read. He wants to read like a romance novel, which would be a little bit more of the graphic, sort of, uh, inappropriate books these days, but the only books available were The Life of Christ and The life of the Saints. And as he read those books, he realized that he desired more than fame, the kind of life with God that was spoken about in those books. And he had a powerful encounter with the Lord there, and that really changed his the whole trajectory of his life. And God really blessed him with deep experiences of his presence that helped form his character. And a lot of his work is recorded in what's called the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. And Saint Ignatius is one of the the many people, I think, throughout history that deeply influenced how Dallas Willard read the Bible, and he learned from folks who were having real encounters with Christ just like that. And I would say I went through the exercises, and they probably are the most spiritually shaping experience I have ever had to become more and more like Jesus. They really help helped unearth the areas of unfreedom in your life, so that you can want and choose what will lead to a deeper life with God.
All right. So that is a very, very hard story. I would imagine that a lot of you have not been hit by cannonballs lately, is my assumption. I'm going to go out on a limb, Dave, and just assume that. Right. But maybe you feel like life has hit you with something that's the equivalent of a cannonball. Maybe you're listening to us and kind of like me and my wife. You know what it's like for a child to get unexpected diagnoses of sickness. Or maybe you know what it's like, and you're listening to us, and you have lost a loved one, someone you love dearly or gone through a deep betrayal in life. You know, cannonballs come in all shapes and sizes, and you are longing for comfort, wondering, where do I go from here? Um. God's word speaks to us even after we have been hit by the cannonballs of life. And if you're in a season right now where you're saying, Chris, my life has been shattered into a thousand pieces and I need to hear from God. I need to encounter his presence. Or maybe as a Christian, you you need in this moment to be shaped and formed. And you can relate to what Dave is saying, that there are areas where you don't have freedom, where bondage is there, despair is there, anxiety is there. Christ wants you to be free. So I want you to give us a call today if we can be your prayer partner. If you say, man, this is exactly what I've been thinking about talking about. There is no coincidence in Christ. He had you listen today because he sees you and you and he loves you. And we would love to pray with you today. Why don't you give us a call 877675. That's 877548 3675. Or go to our website if you want to order the resource at Equip radio.org that's equipped radio Dot. How was your way of reading Scripture changed? Dave, since writing the book, how has, uh, this book, this journey, impacted your own personal, uh, encounter with scripture?
Yeah, it immensely. I think as I was learning from Dallas example, I learned to take a lot more time with with God and His word. Unrushed times like Ignatius, he would invite us to, you know, experience the Gospels as if the things that are happening to the people around Jesus are actually happening to us. So if Jesus is asking us a question like, what are you after? Or what are you looking for? Imagine Jesus is really directly asking you that question, and then have a conversation with Jesus about what's stirring in your heart. So it really helps to build a conversational life with Christ. I would say I also spend more time memorizing scripture. Uh, Dallas would say that scripture memorization was the single most important spiritual discipline in his life. And when he would talk about memorization, he's not talking about recitation. Like for some of us who maybe grew up in the church and you were can get gold stars or prizes for memorizing scripture in front of your peers at Sunday school. Or maybe you have bad memories of trying to recite a Shakespearean sonnet in a high school English class. That's not what Dallas is talking about. He's not mentioning recitation as much as internalization. And as we memorize Scripture as we can, not as we can't, but sometimes just committing a word or phrase to our hearts and our minds that really begins to help us experience God more and more. And what happens when we have Scripture memorized is that our quiet times don't just take place while we're sitting down with our Bibles open, but quiet time as we take God's Word with us. It starts to happen throughout all of our days.
So what would you say to the person who maybe is going through one of those Cannonball seasons about how they can experience Scripture?
Yeah. You know, one text that comes to mind that I've had deep experiences with God through, and I wrote about it in my first book called The Fellowship of the Suffering How Hardship Shapes Us for Ministry and Mission. But it's Philippians 310 where Paul prays, praise. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing or the fellowship of his sufferings. And so I think there's times we can we think to know Christ. It's through moments of power and resurrection and joy and mountaintops. But Paul also says he wants to know Christ through the sharing of his sufferings. And so, through the shattering moments, I believe there are ways for you to know God in ways you wouldn't otherwise be able to know him. If everything was going just the way you wanted it to go. You know, Psalm 3418 tells us God is near to the brokenhearted, and until your heart is really broken, that's something you can understand in your mind, but you don't really experientially know. And so that's really happening. And you continue to long for him through that. So a lot of spiritual disciplines, I think they really help us grow in ways that we are aware we need to grow in. But I think suffering helps us grow in ways that we don't know that we need to grow.
Yeah, I mean, that is what you just shared is really the secret to intimacy with Christ that so often is not talked about. Uh, I think that if you asked any Christian any room full of believers, how many want to have a deeply intimate relationship with Christ, every hand would go up. I would suspect. But if you said the pathway, the doorway to that relationship, that deep intimacy is going to lead through the road of suffering and the valley of sorrows and tears. Um, many would probably turn back, but he is he is present with us in the valley. And that's the testimony of David. I love the fact that we serve a God who is not just with us on a mountaintop, but even when we walk through the valley, even when we experience the cannonballs, as Saint Ignatius did, that blasts through our lives, leaving again our lives shattered in a thousand pieces. God is with us, and he wants us to experience his presence through His Word. He wants us to hear his voice through his word, reading slowly, drinking deeply from the well of the wisdom of Scripture. And that's exactly what experiencing Scripture as a disciple of Jesus will introduce you to. Why don't you go to our website? Equip Radio.com that's equip Radio.com. Right now we're going to take our final break of the day. I am so grateful that Dave Ripper stopped by equip today. He is renewed my hunger and thirst for Jesus to know the author of truth and the truth that he is authored. I want you to get your copy of the book. You can also dial this number 888644 4144. That's 888644 4144. If the broadcast has been a blessing to you today. We love your partnership as we help to take the word to the world. You can be a part of the spreading of the Good News of God's grace by supporting equip. Go to equip radio.org. We'll be right back right after this. In today's rapidly changing culture, Christians need solid biblical guidance more than ever. That's our mission here at Equip to provide biblical wisdom for life's toughest questions. When you step in as an equipper, you're not just giving your monthly support helps to offer clarity and hope to a confused and anxious culture, and you'll get exclusive resources and updates from us all year long. Join our team of monthly supporters today. Call 888644 4144 or visit equip radio.org. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks. So grateful for you calling in today, being willing to be vulnerable, many of you and say, I need my hunger for Scripture to be renewed. Uh, God answers those prayers. What if we didn't just pray for material things? But what if we pray for spiritual things? Jesus, I want to be more like you, Lord. I want to hunger and thirst for your word more. I think God loves those prayers. That's why I'm grateful for today's resource. Dave Ripper has written a great book, Experiencing Scripture as a Disciple of Jesus. We'd love for you to get your copy, go to our website at Radio.com. That's equipped radio Dot. Oh, as well as you can call the number 888644 4144. Let's go to John who's listening in Florida. Hey, John, thank you so much for listening. How can we pray for you today, brother?
Oh, thank you, Chris and Dave. This is a good show y'all putting on today. It touches all the spots where I'm at. Uh, we all know as Christians how you open the Bible and you're into the word and and and the Lord's talking to you, and it's like your eyes are bugged out and you're. And you just can't get enough of the word. It's like, honey, you know, you just can't get enough and you want to get back. And, uh, people leave and you're back to the Bible and it's. I seen the I seen the pages, the the letters turn and tell me a message that I was asking God. And it don't even say it in the Bible. It's alive and active. We Christians know that. And the Lord just powerful. Just makes you want to just. You're almost in a different place anyway. Make it short. I've been going through a dry spell, but I praise the Lord. He's got my family in church. We're taking up 1 or 2 pews. I see his work, but I've lost, you know, there for a month. I couldn't even want to go lay down in the bed and didn't even pray or open my Bible. And I miss being in the presence of God. So I just need your prayers to. I know the power of prayer too, and and I understand it all, but I. I'm not sure what's going on, but I know spiritual spiritual warfare goes on and all that. But if y'all can just pray for me, uh, I know I'm not going to stop reading it and I'm back into it, but yeah, just need your prayers because I know how powerful they are.
Well, John, I appreciate you giving a call, brother. And you're right. So much of what you just said just really encapsulates all of what we're trying to communicate here today. I love that we get a chance to pray for men like John. Dave, what would you say to our brother before I pray?
Yeah. Thanks for your honesty, John. And I think that's just a huge thing that God really honors, especially when we disclose our own sense of self, maybe inadequacy, that we can't do this on our own. I like a prayer. John Ortberg often says that, God, I can't, but you can. I'm going to let you. And on our own, we can't necessarily conjure up the motivations to want to read. Um, but but God can really help us give what we might not feel like we have. And and sometimes I think the Lord does let us go through a little bit of those valleys that, uh, Chris talked about earlier where God might feel a little bit more absent. But it's important for us, as great as experiences are with God in Scripture. We don't want to seek the experiences. We want to seek God Himself and trust in God's good favor and timing. The experiences will come. So I just applaud your resilience to continue reading, to keep showing up, even when you've maybe lost a little bit of that desire to do so. But I believe just even naming it like you are today is going to bring freedom and breakthrough for you. Brother.
Father, thank you so much for John and Lord. I just pray that you would meet him right where he is. He's committed to the discipline of reading Scripture. I pray that you would allow him to see that as an invitation to know you. Invitation to become more like you, Lord. And I pray that even today that as you read your word that something would grab his heart. That something that he reads today, Lord, from your word will remind him that you are gentle and lowly to take your yoke upon him, Lord, and that he would experience your grace through the reading of Scripture. Your promises, Lord. And your presence in Jesus name. Amen and amen. Thank you. Stay on the line. If you would, John. We'd love to get you a copy. A complimentary copy of Dave's book, just to say thank you for listening today. Um, Dave, before we let you go, I think that the appendix of your book is worth the price of admission, brother. It is so good just reading through, uh, these, uh, 15. No. I'm sorry, 20, uh, steps that you put in here or, uh, really distinctives of Dallas Willard's scripture reading. But I just want you to talk about one of them. And that is communication to communion. Uh, to union. What is that principle all about?
Yeah. If you're going to define what is the Bible, how would you define it? And Dallas definition was that Scripture is a communication from God that invites us to experience communion with him. That would lead all the way to union with God. And that's kind of a relational idea of how Dallas understood the whole spiritual life to actually work. God is communicating with us so that we could commune with him, be with him, and then have that lead to an ever deepening union with him, much like with my wife Aaron. You know, we met in, uh, high school and we had communication, and then we were being together. There was that communion. We knew we loved each other, and that led ultimately to our union or our marriage 18 years ago. And just as there's that sort of relational pathway that we have with others, that we grow closer to that same threefold movement from communication to communion to union, is really what the Christian life of following Jesus in a deeper way is all about. And if that's how we grow spiritually, then Dallas is suggesting it shouldn't be a surprise to us that that is exactly what the Bible is a book given to us so that we can hear God's communication, to know him, to experience deeper communion with him so that our lives would be as inseparably connected with him, with his in union, like a vine is with a branch. To use that John 15 language.
That's so good. Brother, what a gift your book is to the body of Christ. Thank you. I would say, pastors, um, we can't expect for something to happen, uh, in the lives of those that we get a chance to shepherd and lead. if it's not happening in our life. So the first place we should, um, desire for this to happen. If you are a pastor, an elder, a leader in the local church is in your life. So please get a copy of this. But, uh, as we often do, share it with others so that they can experience, uh, Scripture as a disciple of Jesus. Dave Ripper, what a blast it's been to have you on with me.
Likewise.
Thank you. God bless the good people of Crossway Christian Church. Keep holding it down, brother. You are much needed in that region of our country. And just know we're praying for you and for Aaron as well. God bless you, brother.
God bless you, Chris. Thanks for equipping the church. Uh, each and every day like this. We appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, friends, until we're together again next time, remember, equip with Chris Brooks is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.